Insulated rail joint



Feb. .17, 1953 R. w. PAYNE INSULATED RAIL JOINT Filed NOV. 10, 1950Patented Feb. 17, 1 953 Application November 10, 1950, Serial No.195,023

UNITE-D ATENT OFFICE 2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to insulated rail joints, and more particularlyto improvements in the armored insulated type shown in my former PatentsNo. 2,016,214, dated October 1, 1935, a d N- 2,441,329, dated May 11,1948.

Armored insulated joints, as they are known in the industry, have beenin extensive use over a period of time and have given very satisfactoryresults. However, as indicated in my Patent No. 2,441,329, equipmentdragging from rolling stock occasionally strikes the exposed outerportions of the ends of the metal shields damaging blows with the resultthat the metal shield pieces are bent downwardly and inwardly and.forced through the insulating sheath thereby producing short circuits,resulting in signal failures. The last patent referred to discloses oneway of meeting the problem and the present invention employs thecarrying forward of the same general purpose mas different and practicalmanner.

Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to providean insulated joint including an insulation unit consisting of an innerinsulation sheath of hard fiber or other insulating material and anouter metal shield assembled in laminar form, and wherein the exposedends or corners of the unit, outwardly of the point of outer loadingengagement between the top of the unit and the head of the rail, are soformed as to provide a wedge-like continuous impact surface fordeflecting blows resulting from dragging equipment away from the joint,thereby not only softening the blow but by reason of such deflectionavoiding the damaging of the metal shield in a way that will likelycause short circuits or signal failure.

A further object of the invention is to provide an insulating unitwherein the insulation sheath and the metal shield are continuouslybeveled outwardly and rearwardly in the same plane thereby providing afirm, smooth and solid impact deflecting face.

With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appearas the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consistsin the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts,hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a detail vertical section of a half rail and a joint barhaving the armored unit of the present invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is .a top plan view of the construction shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detail perspective view of one corner of the armored unit.

Referred to the drawings, it will be seen that the rail R is providedwith a joint bar A secured to the rail by bolts B in the usual manner,and an insulating unit C, according to the present invention, overliesthe head of the joint bar and has loading engagement with the undersideof the rail head and the upper fillet of the rail.

The insulating unit C is of substantially inverted U-shaped formationand includes the inner hard fiber insulation sheath l and an outer metalprotecting shield 2. The exposed vertical edge or corner of the unitfrom a point 3 at the top thereof where loading engagement between theunit and the rail R ceases to exist, to and including the bottom edge 4of the unit is formed with an outwardly and rearwardly beveled impactreceiving and deflecting surface 5. Thi surface includes both theinsulation and the metal sheath and therefore the impact surface 5includes, in planar relation, both the insulation and the metal toprovide a firm and rigid blow deflecting portion.

It will, of course, be understood that the angularly disposed 0r beveledimpact receiving surface 5 is formed at both ends of the unit so that itis adapted to be reversed end for end in installation and will also wardoff or deflect blows from dragging equipment moving in either direction.

The impact face 5 is preferably formed on an angle of approximately 20to degrees with respect to the plane of the outer face of the shield soas to thereby cause dragging equipment to readily glance off the unitbefore any substantial damage is done to any part thereof. In otherwords, the beveled impact surface 5 acts as a wedge with relation todragging equipment tov push the same away from the joint and at the sametime save the parts of the unit from damage serious enough tocause ashort circuit.

I claim:

1. An insulated rail joint, comprising, the rails, the splice bars, andhead pieces of insulation having covering metal shields of invertedU-shaped cross section engaged over the top of the splice bar and havingthe upper inner portions thereof in loading engagement with the rail,and the outer corner edge portions of the insulation sheath and shielddisposed downwardly of said point of loading engagement being beveledoutwardly toward the center of the ba and in the direction of 5 providea blow deflecting impact surface lying 20 outwardly of the outer side ofthe rail ends and upstream of the bolts in the direction of traffic.RALPH W. PAYNE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,320,572 Roach Nov. 4, 19191,372,940 Collier Mar, 29, 1921 1,848,622 Gouverneur Mar. 8, 19322,135,558 Bott Nov. 8, 1938 2,315,444 Meade Mar. 30, 1943 2,441,329Payne May 1, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 564,484 FranceMar. 29, 1923

